(BPT) - By Ned Monroe
From the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" in 1966 to Taylor Swift's "Life of a Showgirl" today, vinyl records are a mainstay in music and art culture. Their combination of nostalgia and utility have turned a whole new generation into collectors. The music medium endures in part because of vinyl's core design and engineering: creating and preserving sound in tiny grooves on a durable, flexible platform that can be played over and over for years of lasting enjoyment.
What vinyl (also known as PVC) does for music it does for so many other things, from drinking water pipes to building materials like siding, windows and flooring to life-saving medical supplies such as blood storage.
Like a perfectly crafted album, vinyl brings together just the right parts and pieces into a melody that enriches lives.
From turntable to tomorrow
Vinyl records and other PVC products, such as pipes and siding, are engineered for a final vinyl product with performance properties specific to its application, such as audio fidelity, impact resistance, durability, UV stability or flexibility.
Vinyl records are designed to play again and again, remaining dimensionally stable to ensure sound quality. It is a testament to the durability of this material that can be seen in many other vinyl products.
Two-thirds of PVC is used in durable goods with lifespans of 15 to 75 years. A major share of vinyl resin goes into water infrastructure products such as buried PVC pipes that can have a service life of more than 100 years. Like vinyl albums that last for decades and can be passed from parents to children, many other vinyl products are designed to remain in use.
The band plays on: The many lives of vinyl
Good music endures - and so can the record itself. Most vinyl materials, including records, can be recycled into new uses. Products made from recycled vinyl include all-weather auto mats, tarps for disaster relief, decking and flooring, to name just a few.
The most recent "State of PVC Recycling in the USA & Canada" report, released this April, found that the U.S. and Canada recycled more than 1.127 billion pounds of PVC in 2024, including 71.3 million pounds of post-consumer content such as roofing, hoses, siding and flooring. This data confirms the vision and dedication of recyclers across North America who have long understood PVC's reuse potential in ways that provide both economic value and environmental benefit.
An extensive playlist: Built for more than just music
Records are one of the most visible consumer products made with vinyl, but you can find the material in so many more of the products you rely on every day, even if you don't realize it. The set list includes:
- Clean water & infrastructure: Because PVC is durable, long-lasting and cost-effective, it's a popular material for pipes across the globe. You can't see most of them, but behind the walls and underfoot, PVC pipes are safely supplying hot and cold water while transmitting wastewater.
- Healthcare: Hospitals have leaned on PVC's durability and reliability for more than 50 years. It has helped save lives by revolutionizing how medical facilities administer patient care. PVC bags can store blood longer and replace breakable containers, medicines can be sealed tightly and have a longer shelf life, and PVC flooring, wallcoverings and furniture are ideally suited due to their performance and cleanability properties.
- Homes & buildings: Vinyl can be manufactured in rigid forms, so it's versatile for a range of construction applications. The strength and longevity of rigid vinyl is ideal for low-maintenance siding, energy-efficient windows and UV-resistant decking, for example, while flexible vinyl is well-suited for watertight roofing membranes, flooring that withstands foot traffic and scratch-resistant wallcoverings.
- Transportation: The cars you drive or the planes you fly on? They're likely to have many lighter weight and easy-to-clean vinyl products, from side moldings and dashboards to floor mats and upholstery.
- Lifestyle & recreation: Along with records, you can thank vinyl for items like pool liners, sprinkler systems, railings and garden hoses.
- Next-generation technology: Vinyl has long been important for technology infrastructure, such as for vinyl-insulated wire and cable and PVC conduits, but it's also playing a key role in the future. EV charging stations and solar panels, for example, also rely on vinyl-insulated wire and cable.
The legend lives on
Record albums show the highly visible (and audible) role vinyl plays in our lives and culture. The same attributes - performance and longevity - that have made vinyl records an enduring cultural force are also what make its roles in infrastructure and healthcare so important. Combined with increasing opportunities for reuse and innovation, it's a material set to endure for generations, and genres, to come.
Learn more about the many ways vinyl is used today and access the Vinyl Institute's Recycling Directory and other resources at www.vinylinfo.org.
Ned Monroe is CEO of the Vinyl Institute.